Le’Veon Bell, LeGarrette Blount play into fourth quarter vs. Eagles

Posted by Mike Wilkening on August 22, 2014, 12:10 AM EST

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On the same day they were cited for marijuana possession, Steelers tailbacks Le’Veon Bell and LeGarrette Blount both played into the fourth quarter of Pittsburgh’s 31-21 preseason loss at Philadelphia.

Bell (nine rushes, 23 yards) and Blount (seven rushes, 32 yards) were the only Steelers tailbacks to carry the ball against the Eagles.

“From my perspective, in terms of their participation tonight, I didn’t view it as punishment to send them home to be quite honest with you, to not play in this preseason game. I would rather them play more than anticipated than to remove them from the game,” Tomlin said, according to a transcript of his remarks from the club. “That’s why we took the stance that we took tonight.”

Tomlin called the Bell and Blount incident “conduct . . . detrimental to our efforts. They’ll be dealt with appropriately.”

However, Tomlin said the club’s lackluster play Thursday night wasn’t related to the backs’ legal issues.

“We are not going to make any excuse for that performance. We are going to own that. What happened yesterday had nothing to do with how we performed tonight,” Tomlin said.

Pittsburgh are a classy organization run by the Rooney family. They are probably shocked and disgusted to learn key Steeler players consume marijuana and will deal with it in house. Incidents like this happen on other teams, not the Steelers. They will be harshly punished and have to improve on the field for bringing disgrace to the team and the city of Pittsburgh.
The players are obviously not too concerned by the drug testing within the NFL because they would have been caught after any pee test. Maybe the word has got out among players, that this will no longer be rigorously tested. Why would they be so cavalier about it, to consume immediately after training? There is more to this story.

angrylionsfan says:Aug 22, 2014 1:37 AM

“What happened yesterday had nothing to do with how we performed tonight,” Tomlin said.
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Wow, that says it all folks. If you do something stupid and inexcusable just be good and we’ll look the other way. I’m surprised this is coming from a team that the Rooney’s own.

I get it on a certainly level. Realistically the legal process will take forever and they won’t get formally charged or punished until next season but this still sets a bad example for the “moral high ground” that the NFL is trying to portray.

angrylionsfan says:Aug 22, 2014 1:38 AM

On the plus side I can still pencil in Bell for starting on my fantasy football team for week 1 by the sounds of it so Yay for me!